


A Wing and a Prayer

by firefright



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, Gen, Guardian Angels, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, for now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-11-09 09:28:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11101701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firefright/pseuds/firefright
Summary: The last thing Dick ever expected was to find out he has a guardian angel. Especially one as overprotective as Jason is.





	A Wing and a Prayer

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This story is a combination of two prompts fills I did for a Guardian Angel AU over on [tumblr](https://firefrightfic.tumblr.com/) a while back, and because I love them so, I decided to clean them up and present them to you folks over here on Ao3 as well. I do have ideas for more of this universe eventually (when I have a little less on my plate) but for now it's just a one-shot. Enjoy!

“No.”

Dick almost falls from his perch at the sudden intrusion of a voice into the space behind him. Male, but one that’s noticeably different from those of the twenty-plus gang members working on packing up a modified Venom drug shipment into disguised crates bound for Metropolis below his hiding place in the warehouse’s rafters. A hiding place so precariously high, and in such a confined space, that no one should have been able to sneak up on him.

Hence why he’s so shocked that someone _did_.

It’s impossible. There’s simply no room for anyone else to have hidden up here where he couldn’t have seen them for a start, and more importantly, no entrance they could have come through to make the climb inside after his own arrival undetected.

Dick himself had to slip into this hiding spot _five hours_ ahead of time, and then wait, twiddling his thumbs and ignoring his steadily building need to take a piss, so that he could catch these bozos in the act without in turn getting caught by them. And when, still disbelieving, Dick does turn around to see exactly what manner of person it is that has managed that impossibly feat — metahuman, it has to be — he almost falls _again_.

Tall even when crouched, the man is… well, stunning to look at to say the least, with dark curling hair and eyes of an indeterminable shade caught somewhere between blue and green (and that’s a compliment that Dick, with all his vast experience of encountering beauty in various alien forms, doesn’t give out lightly). But distracting as they are, his looks alone aren’t what causes Dick’s to almost plummet to his death in shock at his appearance.

No, that honour goes to the huge snowy white wings sprouting out from his shoulders instead.

“What... what the...” Dick squeaks, as he struggles to fully come to grips with what it is he’s seeing.

“I said, _no_.” The man continues impatiently. He lifts one hand and jabs his index finger forwards into the center of Dick’s chest to punctuate the sentence. “No, I’ve had enough. You are not doing this.”

“I’m not… what?”

“There are over twenty men down there, half of them dosed with Venom, and you’re planning on jumping down and taking them all on by yourself, right?” He hisses, “No, just no. I am not letting you do that.”

Dick tries to gather his scattered wits together long enough to manage a reply. “I... I’m sorry, but… who are you?”

The question pushes the stranger to draw himself up, which is a minor marvel in the cramped space of the rafters. Especially with those wings. “My name is Jason.” he announces, in a grave and important tone of voice. “I’m your Guardian Angel.”

Dick continues to stare. “My what now?”

“Your Guardian Angel.”

“I have a…”

“Yes.” Jason says hotly. He keeps his voice low, even as he begins to rant, words picking up in pace and volume in a way that leads Dick to suspect that he might be the only person in the warehouse that can see and hear him right now. “You do. Since you were nine, as a matter of fact. And you know what, Dick Grayson? I have to tell you, you are, single-handedly, the most _frustrating_ human being I have ever been assigned to watch over in the entirety of existence. Do you know how hard it’s been to keep you safe when you keep constantly throwing yourself into danger? I am this close to pulling my feathers out over it. I mean… look at this!” He waves his hand at Dick’s costume, “What the he—heck is that? It’s not as terrible a target as that awful red, green and yellow thing you used to wear was, but it’s still like you leave the house every night yelling out to every evil bastard in the world, ‘Hey shoot me, I want to die!’. And I’m telling you, I’ve had enough of it. I am not letting you do it anymore. I can’t. I refuse, I don’t care if it’s breaking the rules. You are not going to—”

Dick does the only thing he can think of to shut the apparent angel up (and truthfully, Dick’s not buying that he really is one for sure yet, not until he’s had the time to ask some more questions and probe deeper into the truth): he puts his hand over Jason’s mouth, and grins when — curiously — a pink flush creeps its way in across the man’s cheeks.

“Look, angel— _Jason_ ,” he corrects, when those gorgeous seafoam eyes narrow even more in his direction, “I’m flattered you care so much. Really, I am, and trust me, when this is over, I really, _really_ want to know more about you. But first l have to go take care of these guys, or else they’ll ship that drug down there out to some even worse people, who will then use it to hurt a whole lot of innocent lives. Which, if you’re really an angel, I’m guessing you don’t want to happen either, right? So here’s the deal: you can either come with me and help me take them out, or you can wait up here for me until after I’ve finished doing it myself. Either way, you are not going to stop me from doing my job, clear?”

Jason is still blushing when he takes his hand away. “I can’t help you, it’s against the rules.”

“From what you just said, so is revealing yourself to me, but you’ve already done that.” Dick points out, still smiling. He shrugs, “It’s your choice. But I mean, if your job really is to keep me safe, you could do it a whole lot better if you actually lend a hand instead of just sitting up here watching while I do all the hard work, right?”

Jason’s mouth opens, then shuts. His wings puff up indignantly like a newborn chick’s, which is one of the most adorable things Dick’s ever seen even if the overall effect is somewhat ruined by the way Jason is still glaring at him.

“Fine,” he spits, “but when we’re done, you and I are going to have a very serious talk about your lack of self-preservation.”

“Sure. Anything you want, _angel._ ” Dick grins, then winks (forgetting that the gesture won’t be visible through his domino mask) when Jason reddens again.

Reaching back over his shoulders, Dick pulls his escrima sticks free from their holsters and surveys the layout of the warehouse one last time. “Er, actually I should probably check before we start, you do know how to fight, right?”

There’s a derisive snort before Jason hops forwards to share the same rafter space as him. “Yeah, I do.” He moves lightly for such a big man, but Dick supposed that makes sense considering the wings. “For a millennia before you were born, as a matter of fact.”

“Good to know.” Dick nods as he twirls the twin sticks in his hands, “So you take the ones on the left and I’ll take the ones on the right?”

“Just play it safe, Dick.”

Safe isn’t really in his vocabulary, but this is one occasion where Dick thinks that he can maybe give it a try. After all, there’s no way he’s dying tonight. Not when the revelation of Jason’s presence in his life has just made the evening a whole lot more interesting.

 

*

 

“So,” Dick says later that night in his apartment, after they’ve left a whole lot of property damage and unconscious bad guys behind them at the warehouse. Though he started out on the other end of the couch, he had soon scooted along it in order to be closer to Jason, “You’re really my Guardian Angel, huh?”

“I’m pretty sure we’ve been over this already.” Jason grunts back from where he’s sitting, curled up on his favourite chair with a mug of hot chocolate cupped in his hands — the best his charge could provide for him in lieu of not actually owning any tea.

It’s strange to be here in Dick’s home with its owner actually able to see him, instead of always looking around or through Jason the way he did before. Disconcerting even, to have those dark blue eyes focused so intently his way.

Letting Dick know he exists was, in retrospect, a terrible idea. But Jason hadn’t been kidding when he said that he couldn’t continue watching him throw himself into danger against terrible odds alone. Not when he’s already borne witness to it so many times already throughout the course of Dick’s life, and watched him escape only by the skin of his teeth on most, if not every occasion.

His duty is to keep Dick safe, to _protect_ him, and more than that he...

Some days, Jason really wants to throttle Bruce Wayne for allowing Dick to put on that awful Robin suit in the first place. The man’s own lack of self-preservation has been passed down to his ward through some kind of unfortunate osmosis, and was the reason behind why Wayne’s own guardian angel had quit the job for an easier gig of patrolling Heaven’s borders over ten years before. The stress of trying to keep up with the human who called himself Batman had been enough to wilt his wings down to scraggly imitations of their former selves, to the point that the prospect of fighting off demon attacks had seemed like a reward, rather than a demotion.

Thankfully, Jason’s not _quite_ that bad over Dick yet, but he’s getting close. Unlike Wayne’s angel however, he also has no intention of ever being a quitter.

“I know, I just… I can’t believe you’re real. That Guardian Angels are real.” Dick shrugs, setting aside his own cup of coffee so he can wind his hands together in his lap.

“You’ve fought Trigon, and you’re friends with his half-demon daughter, but I’m the thing that breaks your suspension of disbelief?” Jason remarks, arching an eyebrow. He sips the hot chocolate in his hand just for something to do. It tastes good, if a little burnt. “Right.”

Dick snorts, but otherwise doesn’t pursue the topic. “And you’ve really been with me the whole time? Since I was…”

“Nine.” Jason fills in, and this time his voice gentles.

He still remembers the first time he saw Dick as clear as day, kneeling and sobbing before the broken bodies of his parents in the big ring of Haly’s Circus. It wasn’t the happiest of meetings, even by the standards of Guardian Angels, who were usually only assigned to those mortals who’d gone through some terrible form of suffering in their lives. But the rush of love and compassion Jason had felt for him even in that first moment had been all-powerful. He’d wanted nothing more than to lift the boy up into his arms and wrap his wings around him, so that he could shield him from all the needless cruelties of the world.

“If that’s true, then how did I never realise… how did I miss…” Dick looks uncertain. His teeth pull at his lip in a motion more familiar to Jason than the back of his own hand.

“Because that’s how it’s supposed to work. We’re not supposed to interfere directly.” Not like he had tonight, breaking every rule in the book. “We’re… we’re supposed to be guides. We nudge you in the right direction, comfort you in small ways. Watch over and keep you out of danger.” Jason smiles grimly. “Or at least try to.”

Dick laughs a little, “I’d apologise for your trouble, but I… well that would be a lie. I’m not really sorry for anything that I’ve done to help people, you know?”

“I know.” Jason sets his mug aside, then rubs his forehead. That’s exactly the reason why he’s sitting here right now instead of staying invisible like a good angel would, and if any of the higher ups realise it, he’s going to be in a lot of trouble. “I know you.”

“Yeah, I daresay you do after watching me all these years.”

Watching. Touching. Jason’s throat thickens with memories of seeing Dick grow up. How he would always stroke his hair when he was upset, and sing to him when he had nightmares in his sleep. How he’d interfere to the best of his abilities when he was in danger, acting as the gust of wind that swung a thug’s aim wide, or push Dick forward those precious extra inches to make sure he’d land safely from a misguided leap.

How, at some point during all of that, his feelings for the wonderful, selfless, and kind man Dick had grown to be had come to far exceed the point of professionalism.

“When you put it like that, you make me sound like a stalker.” He says, self-conscious once more and needing distraction from his own treacherous thoughts.

The joke works, as Dick’s eyes light up with laughter, “Well, you kind of are. Just a little, you know?”

Jason blushes as he pulls his wings in tighter to his back, and he’s really starting to hate that reflex. It’s one he’s certain he never had before he revealed himself to Dick. “I wasn’t—it’s my job.”

“I know, I know. I’m just teasing you. Even if it’s still a little weird. Okay, a lot weird. I mean, you’ve been here basically half my life, and you must have seen…” Dick’s face reddens in turn as he trails off, before coughing awkwardly. “Anyway, what happens now?”

“What?”

“I said, what happens now? You’re not going to go invisible on me again, are you?”

Jason sighs. By all rights he should and let things go back to the way they were before, otherwise... “I don’t know yet.”

“Well, feel free to take your time thinking about it.” Dick smiles hopefully at him. At _him_ , and no one else. “It’s pretty cool having an angel living in my apartment, you know?”

“Yeah.” Jason swallows, pinned in place like a butterfly beneath the weight of his sincerity. “I daresay it is.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me over on [tumblr!](https://firefrightfic.tumblr.com/)


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